Originally Posted by
TooLowFlap
I did my ab initio training more than 20 years ago. "Frozen ATPL" (CPL IR, ATPL theory and Long Range). Some hours in the US in a Piper PA28 and a Beech F33. Than back to Europe accumulating hours in the Piper PA42 to get used to European weather and familiarize with a few airports. If memory serves me well, I was in the right hand seat with 274 hours total time, when doeing the base check in a narrowbody jet (min 15 landings back than). Some of us even went straight on a widebody (but in short to medium haul operation).
Line training...150 hours standard, again, if memory serves me well.
My first passenger flight as PF was into FRA. We were given vectors to leave a hold on a CAVOC day. The Training Captain said, manual flight could be fun. AP off, A/THR off (standard procedure!), my FD off...
In my opinion, flight training does not end with getting the license or the rating. Captains, like my first training captain, that encourage young pilots to get experience and improve their skills - while making sure to keep things on the safe side - are the key to transfer experience. I do not say, that 1.000 hours single engine C172 are useless, but I think that 150 hours line training with a honest and empowering debriefing might be as valuable.
Maybe there's something to be said for 150 hrs of line training. Here, the standard is 25 or 15 hours. You'll be fired long before getting to 150 hours.